Meet
Baby "Katy
2.5" and Mom.
How did the baby whale get that name? >>Photo
Adrienne Deliso, Baja Ecotours, Laguna San Ignacio

The Longest Mammal Migration is Underway!

As
you sit in your cozy classrooms today, where are the Pacific
Gray whales? Are you surprised to learn that many are still plowing
south on their 5,000 to 6,000-mile swim from Alaska to
Mexico? Click on the globe to discover their
migration route. For whale watchers along the way, it's the greatest
show on Earth!

But
most gray whales are in the warm lagoons of Mexico's Baja peninsula
right now. Why
do they migrate? How can observers spot them? And just how
long are those one-ton babies? Why are
they fondly called pickleheads?
Read to find out in Gray Whales: The Monumental Migration.

Babies
in "Nursery" Lagoons
While whale observers along the California coast (click #6 and #7 on
the globe) have spotted a few whale s migrating north, the real action
right now is in the warm lagoons of Mexico's Baja Peninsula. The whales
swim
all this
way to mate and give
birth — two
important
life cycle events. Most births take place in two lagoons.
(Click on #2 and #3 on the migration
route map and link for more.)

For centuries
gray whales have migrated to Mexico to give birth to their young.
We know
why people like Mexico in winter, but why do the whales go there? Explore
life in the lagoons to find out.

Photo:
Keith Jones

A curious
and friendly mother and baby gray whale come to a tourist boat in
one of Mexico's nursery lagoons.

Journal
Question

What
do you think makes the lagoons of Baja Mexico such good gray whale
baby nurseries?
Name at least two conditions, and tell why each is important.

Where
are those gray whale adults and babies (calves) this week —
and which direction(s) are they going? Click the Migration Data link
at right to find out. With each Journey North report, you can view current
migration data showing the
gray whale
counts
from
two California counting stations (#6 and #7 on the globe above). This
is called a point
count. Our handout (see right) offers questions about the latest
data.